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Man running to be District Attorney General in East TN indicted on DUI in 2014

Michael Shults is running to replace Jimmy Dunn to be the District Attorney General in Sevier, Cocke, Jefferson and Grainger Counties.

SEVIERVILLE, Tenn. — Past arrests surfaced for Michael Shults, a candidate for District Attorney General in the Fourth Judicial District in Tennessee. If elected, Shults would represent the state, prosecuting crimes in the district. 

In 2014, Pigeon Forge police officers pulled Shults over after someone reported a "possible impaired driver," according to court documents. In body camera and dash-camera video reviewed by 10News, Shults is shown undergoing sobriety tests on the side of the road. 

The video shows Shults slow to comply with officers' requests and asking if he could leave. 

"What's going on?" The officer said. "Do you want to perform these or not?"

"I live right there," Shults said.

Officers took Shults back to the station and booked him. Multiple times during the encounter, Shults again asks the officer if he can leave. 

"You can drop me off on Wears Valley Road out there. That's all you have to do," Shults said. 

"No. That's not fair," the officer replied. 

Shults declined to take a blood test at the police department.

A grand jury indicted Shults on:

  • driving under the influence
  • knowingly refusing to take a blood or breath alcohol content test
  • failing to maintain his lane of travel

Shults pleaded guilty to one count of Driving Under the Influence, a Class A misdemeanor. The judge sentenced him to serve 48 hours in jail as well as almost a year of unsupervised probation. 

The misdemeanor charge does not prevent Shults from running for District Attorney General.

10News obtained documents that show Shults was booked in Sevier County Jail again, twice in 2020. 

The first time, law enforcement again suspected Shults was driving under the influence, and said he violated the "implied consent law." That violation usually applies to a person who refuses to submit to a breath or blood analysis. 

The second time Shults was booked in 2020 was for a "violation of pre-trial release." 

Both of those charges from 2020 were dismissed and expunged from Shults's record.

Shults's opponent Jimmy Dunn is the incumbent District Attorney General in Sevier County. He did not want to comment on his opponent's past for this story.

However, in response to his past legal troubles that have surfaced now, Shults gave the following statement: 

As an attorney, I have spent the last decade working for individuals and corporations throughout the 4th Judicial District.

Jumping into this race is what I was called to do. As we all know, politics as a whole can be daunting. Sometimes, it is a dirty game, but if you are as serious about change as I am, you do what I did and stand up to be counted.

I stood up, and I am here for the 4th Judicial District. My opponent, our current District Attorney, is failing us across the board. His approach is outdated and inefficient, and a time for change is here. Political races can get down and dirty, and my opponent, or his supporters, have stooped to the lowest levels with a video they released of me in my twenties. It was not my proudest moment. I knew it would surface, and yet I am still standing up for what is right.

I’m proud of the attorney I am and the family man I have become, and I’m honored to be in this race, even with the dirty politics played by my opponent’s supporters. If I was in his position, I don’t think I would play the tactics he has played. I am still here, and I appreciate everyone in my district’s support. 

Shults's past was first reported by The Mountain Press.

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